The Carlat CME Blog

Those of us who have followed the progress of the implementation of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act have been acutely aware of one potential loophole: drug companies might try to hide payments to doctors for industry-supported CME activities. That’s because these payments are not “direct” payments to doctors, but rather indirect payments. In a 2007[continue reading...]

For those who have not yet heard, there is a new lobbying group in Washington, the CME Coalition. Their mission is to polish the tarnished image of industry-supported CME, in the hopes, apparently, of fending off any future legislation that would further regulate industry funding of CME. Now, if you read the organization’s mission statement,[continue reading...]

After requests by one of our jointly sponsored organizations to issue CME credits to their physician faculty members, and not knowing if I was permitted to do so, I began researching the topic. I began my research on the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education’s “Ask” section, “Credit” subsection, of their website. It seemed to[continue reading...]

Journalist Larry Husten of Cardiobrief.org just posted a fascinating article about conflicts of interest gone wild. An “expert panel” assembled by the National Lipid Association has recently published new recommendations on how to test patients for high lipids. At first glance, everything appeared legit. The authors are noted researchers in the field. The “Journal of[continue reading...]

Normally I would salivate over a workshop titled “Let Me Be Clear: Science Journalism in the Age of the Genome and Twitter“. OK, yes, I admit to being a nerd about both science and journalism. When I received an e-mail about this event, I clicked through right away to learn more. As I read phrases[continue reading...]

CME Rogue's Gallery

A running list of industry-supported CME courses that are drug ads disguised as medical education. These represent the most eloquent arguments for why drug companies should exit the CME business. If you have nominations for the Rogue's Gallery, please email Dr. Carlat or publicly post your nomination on this page.

CME Message: Prescribe More EMSAM!

MAOIs are tricky to prescribe. Are they really worth the risks of drug and food interactions? Are they actually more effective than SSRIs for atypical depression? These are tough questions to answer. Do you trust two MECCs paid by the maker of EMSAM to give you accurate answers? God help your patients if you do. Click here to read the announcement for the upcoming webcast, "MAO Inhibitor Antidepressants: Overcoming Barriers to Clinical Use."

Pseudo CME about Pseudobulbar Affect

Stephen Stahl's company NEI (Neuroscience Institute) produces plenty of good psychiatric education, much of it funded by subscription fees paid by doctors. But the more lucrative part of their business is churning out industry-supported CME. This is an activity funded by Avanir, maker of Nuedexta. Based on a "real patient case," the course describes a 27 year old vet who had a traumatic brain injury, and who was misdiagnosed with depression. But the actual cause of his crying was PBA (pseudobulbar affect), and the ultimate effective treatment was Avanir's Nuedexta. This piece of promotional CME accomplishes two goals for Avanir--it encourages psychiatrists to look for PBA in all their depressed patients (PBA is primarily a symptom of ALS and stroke, and is rarely seen in a psychiatric practice), and it pushes them to choose Nuedexta over everything else.

From the Rogue's Gallery Archives—Delaware Media Group: Sleazy MECC of the Month

The June 2010 issue of "Counseling Points" was body-snatched by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and became an ACCME accredited advertisement for Risperdal Consta and Invega Sustenna. See the Carlat Psychiatry Blog exposè here.